Chapter 46 #2
The words didn’t hold as much weight anymore. Not now. Not since she’d been showered with another set of words that didn’t come with conditions attached or pain required.
What have I done? she thought.
“It’s good to have you home,” Byron said, patting her shoulder as he passed.
She was unable to reply around the pit that formed in her stomach.
Home had been what she’d been chasing all this time but home wasn’t what she felt here anymore.
When she laid in bed that night, she squeezed her eyes shut tight. She swore if she thought hard enough, she could hear Mel’s slow jams and feel Ace’s arms around her. Wrapped in his embrace and the distinct scent of leather, musk, and cognac.
Her brain conjured the soothing rumble of his baritone and the rhythmic clicking of his lighter. It was those memories that rocked her to sleep, dreams full of him and a life she could have had.
Ace pulled his shades over his eyes, shielding them from the blazing Miami sun.
The man standing guard at the Spanish style estate kept watchful eyes on him and a hand on his assault rifle as he spoke in hushed Spanish to Alfonso Reyes through the guard shack phone.
After a few days of wallowing, Ace finally decided that Joy didn’t get to be rid of him so easily.
For the first time since she’d snuck out of his bedroom that night, the anger and pain she’d caused him dissipated, replaced by images of the night they met.
The sad eyes.
The rage.
The defeat.
The loneliness.
The posture, Ace now knew, of a woman who didn’t think she deserved to be loved. He’d seen flashes of that woman over the past several months and this was no different.
Joy had gone back because Houston was where she believed she belonged. Because the cartel and the father who discarded her were all she thought she deserved.
But Ace had meant it when he said he would always chase her.
His beautiful, broken Rose needed to see that she was worth fighting for. That she already had a throne waiting for her—right beside him. One she didn’t have to beg for or barter her soul to keep. One that wasn’t a cage.
After a few nods, the guard hung the phone up and returned to the back driver’s side window where Ace waited patiently.
“You can go on through. Mr. Reyes will see you,” the guard said.
Ace nodded one. “’Preciate it.”
Ray drove through the open gate until they were deposited at the front of the circular driveway.
Alfonso waited at the door dressed in a cream linen set and a pair of shades of his own.
“King. To what do I owe this unexpected pleasure?” he asked as Ace approached.
“Thank you for seeing me, Reyes. I have a favor to ask and it’s urgent.”
Alfonso’s brows rose. “Well in that case, come on around back. I’ll have some refreshments sent back and we can talk.”
Ace and Alfonso settled across from each other beneath the poolside Cabana. Ace had dressed down in a short sleeved button down and trousers but the sun still beat down on him.
“What can I do for you?” Alfonso asked once they had drinks and a plate of fruit between them. He placed a cigar between his lips and crossed one leg over the other.
“I’m looking for a Black cartel out of Texas and all of my east coast contacts have come up empty. With your connections in the south, I’m hoping you can help,” Ace replied.
“The biggest Black cartel I know out of Texas are the Thibodeauxs.”
Ace nodded. “Yeah…You know where I can find them?”
Alfonso tilted his head. “What you want with them? I’m not taking sides in a war, the Thibodeauxs have been good to me.”
Ace shook his head. “No war. They have someone that belongs to me and I need to know where to find her. Quickly.”
Alfonso’s brow raised. “Her? Since when do you have a woman?”
“It’s… new.”
“Who is she? Not too many women in the Thibodeaux Cartel.”
“Joy.”
“Joy Thibodeaux? You’re with that pretty demon?” A disbelieving chuckle burst from his lips.
“You know her?” Ace asked.
“She’s quite infamous down here,” Alfonso said, shaking his head. His voice lowered then, like he thought she would pop out of the bushes. “I heard she cut a man’s hand off, you know.”
Ace couldn't help the smirk that curved his lips. The wide eyed look on Alfonso’s face brought pride to Ace’s chest.
His rose inspired fear in men similar to his own and he loved that about her.
“Yes I heard,” he answered proudly.
Alfonso chuckled, taking a puff of his cigar. “How ‘bout that? I guess it makes sense. The demon and the menace.”
“Do you know where to find her or no? I know they're in Houston, I just don't know where,” Ace said, anxious for answers.
“I don’t think I like the idea of two of my allies forming such an alliance,” he added before Ace could take the paper.
Ace’s jaw clenched and his hands followed suit. He didn’t like the idea of what he had with Joy being reduced to such a degree.
“That’s not what this is,” he said through gritted teeth. “And I don’t recall asking for your permission. Can you help me or not?”
Alfonso pulled at the hair on his chin. “What’s in it for me?”
Living to see another day, Ace wanted to say. But, if he killed the man, he’d be back to square one and time wasn’t on his side.
“What do you want?”
Alfonso shrugged. “I don’t know yet. But a favor of my choosing in the future will suffice.”
Ace exhaled roughly. If he knew Alfonso, he knew agreeing to this would be like writing a blank check. Yet, for Joy, he didn’t think twice about holding his hand out.
“Deal.”
A Cheshire smile spread across Alfonso’s face before he took Ace’s hand and shook it.
He leaned forward and motioned for the guard hovering nearby. Without a word, the looming man produced a sheet of paper and a pen. “They do business out of Galveston. That’s where their ports are but they have a trucking business based downtown as a front. That’s where their office is.”
He spoke as he scribbled, then slid the paper with the address to the other side of the table to Ace.
“Good luck.”